1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cell phone having a function for converting voice information into character information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some of cell phones comprise a function for converting inputted voice information into character information. With respect to methods for converting the voice information into the character information, various methods are conceived. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-116871 describes a system in that voice information inputted into a portable device is sent to a server by means of communication, and then, the voice information is converted into character information by a voice-recognition device included in the server. The converted character information is sent to the portable device and is shown on a display.
In the above-mentioned system, however, it is necessary to send the voice information from the portable device to the server. Further, it is also necessary to return the character information, which has been converted by the voice-recognition device, from the server to the portable device. Thus, there arises a problem in that it takes a time to obtain the character information. Moreover, there arises another problem in that quality of the voice information remarkably deteriorates and a voice-recognition rate of the voice-recognition device lowers because the voice information is transferred between the portable device and the server through a public network.
A technology such as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-218092 is proposed for solving the above problems. In this kind of the technology, a portable device is provided with a voice-recognition device by which the voice information is converted into the character information. In virtue of this, the voice-recognition rate may be prevented from lowering and the character information may be quickly confirmed.
However, in all of the above cell phones, either of reception voice and transmission voice is merely converted into the character information. It is impossible to simultaneously convert the reception voice and the transmission voice into the character information.
Further, it is impossible to express nuance of spoken language, emotional ups and downs thereof, etc. by the character information. In other words, although a voice can freely express emotion and language to be emphasized by changing voice volume of a talker, the above cell phones display the character information in a single font regardless of stresses of the voice volume when the voice including the stresses is converted into the character information. Thus, there arises a problem in that it is impossible to sufficiently express the emotion and the language to be emphasized, because an expression mode of the character information is poor in comparison with the voice. This kind of the problem is similarly caused in a case the character information is inputted with keys or by hand.